[Jeff Johnson]

After having enjoyed taking my wife and two of my kids last summer to go shoot 2-liter bottles full of water, my daughter decided that she wanted to demonstrate hydrostatic shock for her science project. When she described this idea to her science teacher, he thought it was a great idea. He said that nobody in any of his classes has ever done a project like that.

Well, we finally did the actually shooting part of her project today. We went to the West side of Utah Lake, taking a whole slew of bottles, and a video camera. We set pairs of bottles out, one empty and one full of water. My daughter then fired different types of ammo to demonstrate the difference between the impact of the round in an empty bottle vs. one full of water. We video taped each shot and will set up a TV to play the footage as part of the display. We'll also set up some panels with the bottles on display so that we can show how much damage each bottle sustained.

We had a blast. Once I figure out how to capture the video tape images, I'll post some pictures.

 

[Jeff Johnson]

Here's an update on the science project.

The point of the project was to prove that the presence of water in a bottle allows a shock wave to propagate the energy of the bullet, resulting in significant damage to the container. We used four calibers:

• Federal .22 long rifle 36gr
  (Fired from Walther P22 with 5"bbl)[/*]
• UMC .38 Special +P 125gr (hollow point)
  (Fired from S&W 686P 6"bbl)[/*]
• Federal .357 Magnum 158gr Hydra-Shok (hollow point)
  (Fired from S&W 686P 6"bbl)[/*]
• PMC 30-30 WIN 150gr (Flat Nose Soft Point)
  (Fired from Winchester Model 94 lever gun)[/*]

The observed damage to the bottles that had contained water was significant, especially with the relatively high-powered 30-30 round.

Here's the science fair project display:

We also videotaped each shot, and will have the tape playing for the presentation of the project.

 

[rhinokrk]

Jeff,
Looks like a nice presentation. Do you have the pages on your computer still, Any chance of you posting a sample? I would be interested in looking at a page or to. School projects are fun, especially when one can incorporate firearms.

 

[UtahRSO]

Interesting way to present the hydrostatic concept. Also, gets the point across that shooting can be a fun sport. I have to laugh when I think how the idea of preparing a science project by actually SHOOTING A GUN, would be viewed in a school in some other places around the country. The teacher or principal would probably call the police! Thank heavens we live in Utah!

But even so, things are surely viewed differently here than 50 years ago. I was talking to a man yesterday (he's some years older than myself), and he was telling me about how he took firearms safety as part of ONE OF HIS CLASSES in high school. Judging by how old he looks, I'd guess it was in the early 1950's. I didn't get a chance to ask where he was from, but I assumed it was someplace here in Utah.

 

[Jeff Johnson]

If you're interested, here's a much closer view of the project display.

Warning. This file is about 245KB in size.

As you can see, each bottle has yellow arrows labeling the entrance and exit holes. Between each pair of bottles for a caliber is an information sheet on that caliber and the gun used to fire it. The empty bottle of each pair is on the left and the bottle that had contained water is on the right of the sheet. Each information sheet has a scanned image of an unfired cartridge next to a spent casing and a captured bullet which are glued down.

Yeah, this was a fun science project.

 

[rhinokrk]

Jeff,
That is outstanding!!! Kudos to you and your daughter!!!

The gun safety page is a great idea, it helps to dedemonize (if that’s a word) guns IMO. Please let us know how the school reacts to this project and what grade is received.

Can we get a round of applause from the studio audience?

http://www.sound-effect.com/sounds/huma ... plause.aif



 

[Jeff Johnson]

Thank you. My daughter is happy that she got an online applause...

 

[Jeff Johnson]

One interesting note. If you look at the pair of bottles on the lower right of the display, on either side of the sheet describing the 30-30 ammo, you'll notice the tremendous damage to the bottle that had contained water. You'll also notice that the empty bottle on the left has two labels called "Entrance".

Why two entrance labels? (And yes, there are two exit labels on the other side.)

The .30 caliber high-velocity round hardly even moved the empty bottle. We weren't sure that my daughter had hit it on the first shot, so I had her shoot the empty bottle again. Hence two entrance holes and two exit holes on that bottle. The slower-moving calibers sure knocked empty bottles over, but the 30-30 round just sliced through the empty bottle so fast, that it hardly noticed. The bottle full of water, of course, was an entirely different story.

 

[tapehoser]

I'd love to see the detail of the report and the video online.

VERY COOL!

 

[Ruger Collector]

Very cool stuff Jeff.

I hope she gets an A on that project.

That gives me some ideas for my kids next science projects. Though I'm having trouble getting my 8 year old to stop asking his mom for a PS2 (which are sold out everywhere) and start asking her for a 10/22 (which we could actually get for him).

I bet the videos are going to be great too!

 

[srbeck]

Jeff,
Great job with you daughter and her project! I have twin girls who are apporaching the science project stage. I think you've done all of us and our families a great service by reminding us what we CAN do in education. As a side light, while serving as Shooting Sports Director at Camp Frontier at East Fork of the Bear Boy Scout Reservation, we would do a similar demonstration using pop cans and a .22 rifle fired from 50 feet. A well-hit warm coke would literally turn inside-out when struck by a hollow-point bullet. We also shot potatoes and apples, which the animals there enjoyed. Some years ago, I participated in a company's Gun Safety CD-ROM where we filmed in vhs for real-time and with 16mm film for slo-mo. We shot through a simulated wall as found in a home with a .22 rifle, striking the un-opened pop can behind, and also shot with a 12 Gauge shotgun, a .270 Winchester Rifle and a .45ACP handgun into watermelons. The shotgun and rifle blasted the watermelon to watery pulp. (Can you say BLOW BACK?) The .45 pistol using a Speer Gold Dot 230 grain hollow point blew off the top two thirds, and removed the seeds from the rest. It was very tasty! Once again, congrats to your daughter!

srbeck